Creator+ or H5P: Which Hotspot is Right for Me?
Did you know that Creator+ has two hotspot tools? The Creator+ Hotspot is a fully-accessible Brightspace Element, and the H5P Image Hotspots tool is part of the H5P suite of interactives.
Both hotspots accomplish the same thing: creating interactive images for a dynamic learning experience. However, there are some important differences to keep in mind.
In this article, I’ll showcase both hotspot options, explore the differences, and provide an example of each.
Creator+ Hotspot
Creator+ Hotspots are part of the Insert Element feature. Like other Elements, these tools are native to Brightspace and were developed based on Brightspace design standards.
A Creator+ Hotspot fits nicely into any Brightspace content page. It displays an image overlaid with circular nodes. These nodes are the hotspots. If you click these hotspots, you’ll open a pop-up box.
Here is an image of a Creator+ Hotspot.
Benefits of the Creator+ Hotspot
- Native to Brightspace: The Creator+ Hotspot was made for Brightspace. It follows Brightspace design conventions and will instantly load on any content page.
- Accessibility: The Creator+ Hotspot is fully accessible. When screen readers scan a Creator+ Hotspot, they will read out a description of the background image, pop-up text, and micro-alt tags for all segments of the Hotspot. Accessibility settings are robust, and course designers can customize alt text and the size of segments. For more information, refer to this Community article on micro-alt tags: All About Micro Alt Tags.
- Embedding media: Designers can combine images, text, videos, and audio into a Hotspot pop-up. By contrast, the H5P Image Hotspots can only contain one of these per hotspot.
H5P Image Hotspots
H5P Image Hotspots were developed by H5P Group as part of their suite of interactives. These Hotspots can be designed in Brightspace or on H5P.com. Designers can directly embed an H5P Image Hotspots interactive onto a Brightspace content page.
H5P Image Hotspots have a similar functionality to Creator+ Hotspots, but with some slight differences in features and visual design.
Here is an example of an H5P Image Hotspots interactive. You can interact with it on this page to get a sense of functionality.
Benefits of the H5P Accordion
- Unlimited Hotspots: Image Hotspots can support an unlimited number of hotspots. By contrast, the Creator+ Hotspot can support a maximum of 10 hotspots. If you’re working with a complicated image that will require many points of interaction, consider H5P Image Hotspots.
- Full width: Image Hotspots take up more page space than Creator+ Hotspots. This fuller display can help showcase larger diagrams and infographics, but keep image resolution in mind before embedding.
- Shareability: As with any H5P interactive, Image Hotspots are saved into H5P’s robust content management system. You can easily reuse the Image Hotspots interactive across courses and share editing privileges with others.
Summary
Creator and H5P hotspots are an effective way to add interactivity. While they offer some differences, you can’t go wrong with either option.
Next time you build a Hotspot for your Brightspace page, experiment with both options to see which one you prefer. If you’d like to learn more, explore our Hotspot resources on the Creator+ Instructional Design Best Practices course.
Do you have any questions about Hotspots? Ask your question in the comment section below and we’ll help you out.